Our Pod With 2 Peas: Roseola is not so Rosy

When I went in to check on Owen late Tuesday night, I expected to put his paci back in, lay him down, and go back to my bed. I didn't expect for him to have a fever. So, we took a little trip down to the kitchen, got some infant Tylenol, I gave him a kiss, and put him back into his crib and called it a night.

I figured the fever was just from teething. As any mom of young kids knows, teething can be to blame for just about anything out of the ordinary in your babes. Runny nose? Oh, that must be from teething. Extra crabby lately? Oh, I think his molars might be popping though soon. Fever? Oh, I think I remember the doctor telling me a low-grade fever is common while teething.

But this was not teething.

This fever went on for just under 4 full days. This was not your average fever either. His temp hung out mostly in the 103-104 degrees range. It warranted 3 visits to our local pediatrician, each time stumping a different doctor. No one had an answer.

At our doctor's visit on Thursday afternoon, he arrived with a fever of 103.2. "I think he feels even hotter now," I told the doctor after a quick examination gave us no hints as to a cause. And sure enough, in just 40 minutes he was up to 104.5 degrees. At this point, 3 nurses and 2 doctors came into the room. One brought an ice pack, another a freezee of Pedialyte. Someone else came in proposing a dose of Ibuprofen. Owen's doctor suggested resorting to "mechanical measures" to bring the fever down. A cool washcloth, a tepid bath. "You really do not need to worry until the fever reaches 105.5 degrees," the doctor tried to assure me. Oh okay, good thing I hadn't started to worry yet! Ha!

So home we went.

And after the bath and washcloths and next dose of Tylenol, my baby lay in my arms and I knew this wasn't looking good. I held my breath as I retook his temp, and just about fell off the couch as the thermometer beeped and I saw the number 105.1 blinking on the screen.

I was reminding myself of the doctors words of wisdom and tried to remain calm. But my mommy intuition told me we couldn't continue to battle this fever on our own.

We arrived at the ER and the triage nurse took his temp at 104.2, still alarmingly high an hour after that dose of Tylenol. We stumped yet a 4th doctor as to the cause of these fevers. I think the doctor saw the worry in my eyes and was searching for something to diagnose and pointed out a "slight" ear infection, gave us a prescription for Amoxicillin and sent us on our way once the fever was "down" to 103.7.

I spent the 3rd night in the rocking chair with Owen in my arms in his little striped cotton t-shirt, so he wouldn't be too hot. I must have scanned his forehead with the thermometer every 3 minutes, making sure we weren't headed in the wrong direction.

Friday came, day 3 of fevers up in the 103's. On another trip to the pediatrician, Owen's blood counts finally revealed that this was a virus, most likely Roseola. The doctor told us to watch for a rash to appear once the fever breaks. I felt some hope and I prayed for the end of this misery.

And sure enough, come Saturday morning, I started to notice some faint rashes on his forehead and behind his ears and neck. At first I thought I was just seeing things because I was severely sleep deprived and I was hoping for this rash SOOO badly. He still had a fever throughout the day, but by bath time Saturday night, I felt a sigh of relief as I saw more rashes popping up across his tummy and on his back. Let me tell you, I have never been more thrilled to see a rash on my baby, confirming that this ugly virus had finally left my poor baby's little body.

By Sunday morning, the rash was even more prevalent, and the best confirmation of all: a reading on the thermometer of 98.6 degrees.

Goodbye, Roseola. You gave this momma the scare of her life. So thankful to have my happy little boy back again.